Bloggers are writing about it.
Friends are talking about it.
Magazine articles are advertising how to get it...
The Most Magical Summer Ever.
Isn't summer just so magical? they all say.
As June blossomed into July and now July has melted into August, I've thought about this question. I've thought about their stories of perfect days at the beach and amazing family camping trips. But to be honest, as I've imagined their tan toes sunk in warm sand and faces lit by the warm glow of evening campfires, I've thought,
Nope, not so magical over here.
Because summer with a 4, 3, and 1 year old is really just regular life but hotter. It's still potty training and dinner making. It's still laundry and dishes and discipline. Nothing feels magical about bedtime battles with a strong-willed child. Yes, it's summer, but there's still fussing and whining and brothers bickering and occasionally biting. There's finishing the day with a to-do list with so many boxes still unchecked and yet feeling so spent that there's nothing left to give to one more to do.
So is it just me? Am I the only one not having the most magical summer ever?
Then I remember this from Ann Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts:
"Isn't it here? The wonder? Why do I spend so much of my living hours struggling to see it? Do we truly stumble so blind that we must be affronted with blinding magnificence for our blurry soul-sight to recognize grandeur? The very same surging magnificence that cascades over our every day here. Who has time or eyes to notice?"
Oh, yes. THESE are the questions I should be pondering.
Isn't the wonder HERE?
Here in the still same but hotter every day.
Who has EYES to notice?
I will choose to have noticing eyes.
So I breathe deep. Take my eyes off the magical gifts of salty, beach-sun fun and crisp, mountain fill-your-soul air enjoyed by others, and place my eyes on the gifts of summer magic given to ME.
Then this is what I see.
Happy brothers posing for a Happy Father's Day photo. Magical.
Boys so strong like their super hero Dad. Magical.
My first two babies turned into Big Boy brothers, ready for their first day of VBS. Magical.
Captivated by Daddy and a garden hose. Magical.
Boring dirt and a fruitless tree made glorious by God's streaming rays of sun. Magical.
First time experiencing 4th of July fireworks. Magical.
Chalk on jeans. Chalk on cheeks. Baby in bucket. Magical.
Brotherly love. Magical.
Sun-kissed skin, surf boards, sharks, swim shirts, and sandals. Magical.
Isn't summer just so magical?
Why yes, it is.
Yes, it is.
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